A long long time ago...
ancient teachers, philosophers and math tutors liked to play with riddles.
Riddles are fun and can be a way to match wits with your peers.
Let's face it--math can be very boring. Getting students to actually spend hours of labor on math studies and really give their brain a workout can be a daunting struggle.
One way of enticing students to develop their brains was to propose geometry riddles for them to solve.
There is a very famous problem from ancient times you may have heard of : SQUARING the circle.
But--wait! I will lose your interest if I "go there" immediately!
Let me reveal my intention in discussing this riddle.
I propose to demonstrate that this squaring-the circle riddle actually became the basis for the story
of ADAM and EVE in the Garden of Eden!
Does that stimulate your curiosity--I hope?
If so---bear with me a moment. Let me build my proof one step at a time.
To perform this demonstration properly I'll need your willing participation.
You will be compelled to USE YOUR BRAIN. But, I'll try and make it fun. Okay?
The nature of a square and the nature of a circle are such they aren't ANYTHING alike.
A square has more sides than a circle. (Duh!)
In the olden days (before our common era) only 2 tools were provided to a student for constructing geometric figures. The straight edge ruler and the compass.
Drawing a circle is easy. Constructing a square is easy.
WARNING!! a SQUARE circle can neither be constructed, described or conceived.
The actual space inside (the area) is certainly different between the two...
It consists of no more than the juxtaposition of two contrary things which cannot be combined into one nature.
In Fact: the nature of each requires they remain what they are no matter what.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Now I'm guessing that at this point I've lost more than half of all the readers who stumble upon this topic!!
If you are still hanging in there with me---I congratulate you! I hope to reward your efforts...
_________________________________________________________________________________________
I propose to demonstrate that the writer of the Adam and Eve story was a shrewd logician or rabbi very much aware of the Square Circle problem.
Consider:
From "Torah Metaphysics versus Newtonian Empiricism," ©Rabbi Dr. Shimon Dovid Cowen,article published in the journal
B'Or Ha'Torah: Science, Art, and Modern Life in the Light of the Torah,
For the Rabbi, "circle in the square" can symbolize the tension between concept and reality, the perfection that exists in the realm of the idea, but seems to disappear in manifestation.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is O bvious to thinking people wh o believe in God that we do NOT live in the BEST of all POSSIBLE worlds.
T he tension between what God is able to create and the reality that things are not perfect is troubling.
A devout believer who loves God is often faced with people who ridicule and insult the idea of a supreme being who did NOT achieve perfection in His creation! The natural reaction is to try and explain how this could be.
This form of explanation is called "apologia" and the one making it is an Apologist. (No, they aren't really apologizing!)
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
But, the Rabbi of old had his work cut out for him in explaining how mankind could be in such a predicament and yet have as their author a benevolent Almighty creator!
Because of this tension ( the tension between concept and reality, the perfection that exists in the realm of the idea, but seems to disappear in manifestation.) the RABBI put the burden on the student to solve the riddle for himself.
What was the challenge? It was, in effect, to solve the problem of SQUARING THE CIRCLE in a philosophical context.
This is where you put on your thinking cap and gird up your loins! Shall we commence to accept this challenge?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
You are the student.
The ancient Rabbi is challenging YOU.
Can you solve the tension between the concept of a perfect God and the reality of an imperfect world? READ ON!
To solve any mystery, crime or puzzle we have to begin with the facts, the clues and the evidence.
We begin with what we logically agree upon as true:
1. Man is homo sapien. ( The "sapient" is Latin for Intelligent )
2. For man to live he must employ intelligence because:
A. Death requires no effort on the part of man, it only requires surrender
B. Life makes all other values possible.
3.Man can never "achieve" life as a goal because the act of living requires the struggle for survival.
Therefore:
4. Man is entirely dependent on intelligent use of acquired KNOWLEDGE in order to SURVIVE. (Lower animals rely on built-in instinct.)
5. Man's exercise of intelligent use of KNOWLEDGE is what separates him in kind from all other creatures.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I URGE YOU NOT TO SKIP OVER what follows.
If you miss the "rules of engagement" you miss the beauty of the riddle.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
LIFE cannot be an achievement of man because it exists in an ongoing continuum of pursuit requiring more and more knowledge to sustain.
Logically then, for man to DO NOTHING is to allow DEATH to occur. For man to exercise KNOWLEDGE is to sustain LIFE.
OBEDIENCE is a choice to "do nothing" but obey. The human mind becomes irrelevent to the process.
ACTIVE becomes PASSIVE.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
HUMAN NATURE for Homo Sapien means KNOWLEDGE is the means of SURVIVAL.
To not pursue the means of survival is to do the impossible: to NOT be homo sapien.
The only alternatives for Human Nature are:
1. Rational Being
or
2.Suicidal Animal
************************************************
So HOW does the RABBI construct a story which pits the TENSIONS against each other?
T he tension between concept and reality, the perfection that exists in the realm of the idea, but seems to disappear in manifestation
In the Garden of Eden the newly created homo sapien must struggle with the TENSION between the CHOICE to pursue KNOWLEDGE rather than TO SURVIVE!
Tricky riddle, eh?
1.Man's nature as homo sapien is to pursue knowledge FOR survival
2.To refuse Knowledge is to refuse the means by which one Survives as a Human.
I n the Garden of Eden the Creator God demands that Adam NOT exercise his human nature of relying on acquired knowledge because---God will break the connection by sentencing Adam to DEATH!
Remember:
A SQUARE circle can neither be constructed, described or conceived for it consists of no more than the juxtaposition of two contrary things which cannot be combined into one nature.
ADAM's dilemma i s a kind of Square Circle because, being a homo sapien, Adam must use knowledge to survive. To refuse to pursue Knowledge is to renounce his own Nature. The only EVIL in pursuing survival is in God's arbitrary decision to punish Adam for the very act of being Human!
S ome ancient rabbi who constructed this story was having a merry laugh with his Square-Circle dichotomy.
It implies an infinite regression of self-contradictions.
1 .Being human you must pursue KNOWLEDGE.
2. If you pursue KNOWLEDGE you will die.
T wisting HUMAN NATURE into a compulsion to OBEY rather than pursue KNOWLEDGE is to destroy the internal guidance system of man's mind.
If God created man's internal guidance system (knowledge seeking)then God's demand that man surrender it is a diabolical contradiction.
HERE IS THE BEAUTY of the riddle:
If man were "like God" already knowing good and bad he would not need his Human nature of acquiring outside knowledge in order to survive.
But...
Since man is NOT like God, he must pursue outside knowledge OF good and bad in order to BE LIKE GOD.
And, according to the story of Eden--IN SO DOING he (rather than God) becomes responsible for the imperfect state of the world!
________________________________________________________________________________________
Remember: YOU are the student who must "square the circle" and resolve the tension between the perfect and benevolent Creator and the imperfect world of His own creation!
How do YOU solve the riddle?
1.Blame man for his own human nature.....or
2.Blame God for arbitrarily creating an unecessary tension between pursuit of knowledge and demand for obedience...or
3.Realize that the premise is flawed in the first place because you cannot square the circle!
It is the ARBITRARY decision which most troubles the devout believer in a benevolent God.
The Rabbinical puzzle make YOU the culprit in destroying God's reputation should you settle for #3.
The pious student will assume blame as a human and absolve God and the apologia is complete.
The rational thinker will absolve Adam because what is the point in possessing a reasoning mind if one is compelled to NOT use it?
IN SO DOING, the rational thinker LOSES GOD!
The Tension between rational and logical thought and the compulsion to faithfully believe in a benevolent Creator IS RESOLVED
by turning this philosophical dilemma into an HISTORICALLY TRUE STORY.
And that is exactly what has happened--isn't it? When we came into this world were were told the story
of Adam and Eve is AN HISTORICALLY TRUE event.
If you accept it as historically true: CONGRATULATIONS--YOU'VE SQUARED THE CIRCLE!!
1 .Being human you must pursue KNOWLEDGE.
2. If you pursue KNOWLEDGE you will die.
T wisting HUMAN NATURE into a compulsion to OBEY rather than pursue KNOWLEDGE is to destroy the internal guidance system of man's mind.
If God created man's internal guidance system (knowledge seeking)then God's demand that man surrender it is a diabolical contradiction.
HERE IS THE BEAUTY of the riddle:
If man were "like God" already knowing good and bad he would not need his Human nature of acquiring outside knowledge in order to survive.
But...
Since man is NOT like God, he must pursue outside knowledge OF good and bad in order to BE LIKE GOD.
And, according to the story of Eden--IN SO DOING he (rather than God) becomes responsible for the imperfect state of the world!
________________________________________________________________________________________
Remember: YOU are the student who must "square the circle" and resolve the tension between the perfect and benevolent Creator and the imperfect world of His own creation!
How do YOU solve the riddle?
1.Blame man for his own human nature.....or
2.Blame God for arbitrarily creating an unecessary tension between pursuit of knowledge and demand for obedience...or
3.Realize that the premise is flawed in the first place because you cannot square the circle!
It is the ARBITRARY decision which most troubles the devout believer in a benevolent God.
The Rabbinical puzzle make YOU the culprit in destroying God's reputation should you settle for #3.
The pious student will assume blame as a human and absolve God and the apologia is complete.
The rational thinker will absolve Adam because what is the point in possessing a reasoning mind if one is compelled to NOT use it?
IN SO DOING, the rational thinker LOSES GOD!
The Tension between rational and logical thought and the compulsion to faithfully believe in a benevolent Creator IS RESOLVED
by turning this philosophical dilemma into an HISTORICALLY TRUE STORY.
And that is exactly what has happened--isn't it? When we came into this world were were told the story
of Adam and Eve is AN HISTORICALLY TRUE event.
If you accept it as historically true: CONGRATULATIONS--YOU'VE SQUARED THE CIRCLE!!
It implies an infinite regression of self-contradictions.
1 .Being human you must pursue KNOWLEDGE.
2. If you pursue KNOWLEDGE you will die.
T wisting HUMAN NATURE into a compulsion to OBEY rather than pursue KNOWLEDGE is to destroy the internal guidance system of man's mind.
If God created man's internal guidance system (knowledge seeking)then God's demand that man surrender it is a diabolical contradiction.
HERE IS THE BEAUTY of the riddle:
If man were "like God" already knowing good and bad he would not need his Human nature of acquiring outside knowledge in order to survive.
But...
Since man is NOT like God, he must pursue outside knowledge OF good and bad in order to BE LIKE GOD.
And, according to the story of Eden--IN SO DOING he (rather than God) becomes responsible for the imperfect state of the world!
________________________________________________________________________________________
Remember: YOU are the student who must "square the circle" and resolve the tension between the perfect and benevolent Creator and the imperfect world of His own creation!
How do YOU solve the riddle?
1.Blame man for his own human nature.....or
2.Blame God for arbitrarily creating an unecessary tension between pursuit of knowledge and demand for obedience...or
3.Realize that the premise is flawed in the first place because you cannot square the circle!
It is the ARBITRARY decision which most troubles the devout believer in a benevolent God.
The Rabbinical puzzle make YOU the culprit in destroying God's reputation should you settle for #3.
The pious student will assume blame as a human and absolve God and the apologia is complete.
The rational thinker will absolve Adam because what is the point in possessing a reasoning mind if one is compelled to NOT use it?
IN SO DOING, the rational thinker LOSES GOD!
The Tension between rational and logical thought and the compulsion to faithfully believe in a benevolent Creator IS RESOLVED
by turning this philosophical dilemma into an HISTORICALLY TRUE STORY.
And that is exactly what has happened--isn't it? When we came into this world were were told the story
of Adam and Eve is AN HISTORICALLY TRUE event.
If you accept it as historically true: CONGRATULATIONS--YOU'VE SQUARED THE CIRCLE!!
1 .Being human you must pursue KNOWLEDGE.
2. If you pursue KNOWLEDGE you will die.
T wisting HUMAN NATURE into a compulsion to OBEY rather than pursue KNOWLEDGE is to destroy the internal guidance system of man's mind.
If God created man's internal guidance system (knowledge seeking)then God's demand that man surrender it is a diabolical contradiction.
HERE IS THE BEAUTY of the riddle:
If man were "like God" already knowing good and bad he would not need his Human nature of acquiring outside knowledge in order to survive.
But...
Since man is NOT like God, he must pursue outside knowledge OF good and bad in order to BE LIKE GOD.
And, according to the story of Eden--IN SO DOING he (rather than God) becomes responsible for the imperfect state of the world!
________________________________________________________________________________________
Remember: YOU are the student who must "square the circle" and resolve the tension between the perfect and benevolent Creator and the imperfect world of His own creation!
How do YOU solve the riddle?
1.Blame man for his own human nature.....or
2.Blame God for arbitrarily creating an unecessary tension between pursuit of knowledge and demand for obedience...or
3.Realize that the premise is flawed in the first place because you cannot square the circle!
It is the ARBITRARY decision which most troubles the devout believer in a benevolent God.
The Rabbinical puzzle make YOU the culprit in destroying God's reputation should you settle for #3.
The pious student will assume blame as a human and absolve God and the apologia is complete.
The rational thinker will absolve Adam because what is the point in possessing a reasoning mind if one is compelled to NOT use it?
IN SO DOING, the rational thinker LOSES GOD!
The Tension between rational and logical thought and the compulsion to faithfully believe in a benevolent Creator IS RESOLVED
by turning this philosophical dilemma into an HISTORICALLY TRUE STORY.
And that is exactly what has happened--isn't it? When we came into this world were were told the story
of Adam and Eve is AN HISTORICALLY TRUE event.
If you accept it as historically true: CONGRATULATIONS--YOU'VE SQUARED THE CIRCLE!!
3.Man can never "achieve" life as a goal because the act of living requires the struggle for survival.
Therefore:
4. Man is entirely dependent on intelligent use of acquired KNOWLEDGE in order to SURVIVE. (Lower animals rely on built-in instinct.)
5. Man's exercise of intelligent use of KNOWLEDGE is what separates him in kind from all other creatures.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I URGE YOU NOT TO SKIP OVER what follows.
If you miss the "rules of engagement" you miss the beauty of the riddle.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
LIFE cannot be an achievement of man because it exists in an ongoing continuum of pursuit requiring more and more knowledge to sustain.
Logically then, for man to DO NOTHING is to allow DEATH to occur. For man to exercise KNOWLEDGE is to sustain LIFE.
OBEDIENCE is a choice to "do nothing" but obey. The human mind becomes irrelevent to the process.
ACTIVE becomes PASSIVE.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
HUMAN NATURE for Homo Sapien means KNOWLEDGE is the means of SURVIVAL.
To not pursue the means of survival is to do the impossible: to NOT be homo sapien.
The only alternatives for Human Nature are:
1. Rational Being
or
2.Suicidal Animal
************************************************
So HOW does the RABBI construct a story which pits the TENSIONS against each other?
T he tension between concept and reality, the perfection that exists in the realm of the idea, but seems to disappear in manifestation
In the Garden of Eden the newly created homo sapien must struggle with the TENSION between the CHOICE to pursue KNOWLEDGE rather than TO SURVIVE!
Tricky riddle, eh?
1.Man's nature as homo sapien is to pursue knowledge FOR survival
2.To refuse Knowledge is to refuse the means by which one Survives as a Human.
I n the Garden of Eden the Creator God demands that Adam NOT exercise his human nature of relying on acquired knowledge because---God will break the connection by sentencing Adam to DEATH!
Remember:
A SQUARE circle can neither be constructed, described or conceived for it consists of no more than the juxtaposition of two contrary things which cannot be combined into one nature.
ADAM's dilemma i s a kind of Square Circle because, being a homo sapien, Adam must use knowledge to survive. To refuse to pursue Knowledge is to renounce his own Nature. The only EVIL in pursuing survival is in God's arbitrary decision to punish Adam for the very act of being Human!
S ome ancient rabbi who constructed this story was having a merry laugh with his Square-Circle dichotomy.
It implies an infinite regression of self-contradictions.
1 .Being human you must pursue KNOWLEDGE.
2. If you pursue KNOWLEDGE you will die.
T wisting HUMAN NATURE into a compulsion to OBEY rather than pursue KNOWLEDGE is to destroy the internal guidance system of man's mind.
If God created man's internal guidance system (knowledge seeking)then God's demand that man surrender it is a diabolical contradiction.
HERE IS THE BEAUTY of the riddle:
If man were "like God" already knowing good and bad he would not need his Human nature of acquiring outside knowledge in order to survive.
But...
Since man is NOT like God, he must pursue outside knowledge OF good and bad in order to BE LIKE GOD.
And, according to the story of Eden--IN SO DOING he (rather than God) becomes responsible for the imperfect state of the world!
________________________________________________________________________________________
Remember: YOU are the student who must "square the circle" and resolve the tension between the perfect and benevolent Creator and the imperfect world of His own creation!
How do YOU solve the riddle?
1.Blame man for his own human nature.....or
2.Blame God for arbitrarily creating an unecessary tension between pursuit of knowledge and demand for obedience...or
3.Realize that the premise is flawed in the first place because you cannot square the circle!
It is the ARBITRARY decision which most troubles the devout believer in a benevolent God.
The Rabbinical puzzle make YOU the culprit in destroying God's reputation should you settle for #3.
The pious student will assume blame as a human and absolve God and the apologia is complete.
The rational thinker will absolve Adam because what is the point in possessing a reasoning mind if one is compelled to NOT use it?
IN SO DOING, the rational thinker LOSES GOD!
The Tension between rational and logical thought and the compulsion to faithfully believe in a benevolent Creator IS RESOLVED
by turning this philosophical dilemma into an HISTORICALLY TRUE STORY.
And that is exactly what has happened--isn't it? When we came into this world were were told the story
of Adam and Eve is AN HISTORICALLY TRUE event.
If you accept it as historically true: CONGRATULATIONS--YOU'VE SQUARED THE CIRCLE!!
1 .Being human you must pursue KNOWLEDGE.
2. If you pursue KNOWLEDGE you will die.
T wisting HUMAN NATURE into a compulsion to OBEY rather than pursue KNOWLEDGE is to destroy the internal guidance system of man's mind.
If God created man's internal guidance system (knowledge seeking)then God's demand that man surrender it is a diabolical contradiction.
HERE IS THE BEAUTY of the riddle:
If man were "like God" already knowing good and bad he would not need his Human nature of acquiring outside knowledge in order to survive.
But...
Since man is NOT like God, he must pursue outside knowledge OF good and bad in order to BE LIKE GOD.
And, according to the story of Eden--IN SO DOING he (rather than God) becomes responsible for the imperfect state of the world!
________________________________________________________________________________________
Remember: YOU are the student who must "square the circle" and resolve the tension between the perfect and benevolent Creator and the imperfect world of His own creation!
How do YOU solve the riddle?
1.Blame man for his own human nature.....or
2.Blame God for arbitrarily creating an unecessary tension between pursuit of knowledge and demand for obedience...or
3.Realize that the premise is flawed in the first place because you cannot square the circle!
It is the ARBITRARY decision which most troubles the devout believer in a benevolent God.
The Rabbinical puzzle make YOU the culprit in destroying God's reputation should you settle for #3.
The pious student will assume blame as a human and absolve God and the apologia is complete.
The rational thinker will absolve Adam because what is the point in possessing a reasoning mind if one is compelled to NOT use it?
IN SO DOING, the rational thinker LOSES GOD!
The Tension between rational and logical thought and the compulsion to faithfully believe in a benevolent Creator IS RESOLVED
by turning this philosophical dilemma into an HISTORICALLY TRUE STORY.
And that is exactly what has happened--isn't it? When we came into this world were were told the story
of Adam and Eve is AN HISTORICALLY TRUE event.
If you accept it as historically true: CONGRATULATIONS--YOU'VE SQUARED THE CIRCLE!!
It implies an infinite regression of self-contradictions.
1 .Being human you must pursue KNOWLEDGE.
2. If you pursue KNOWLEDGE you will die.
T wisting HUMAN NATURE into a compulsion to OBEY rather than pursue KNOWLEDGE is to destroy the internal guidance system of man's mind.
If God created man's internal guidance system (knowledge seeking)then God's demand that man surrender it is a diabolical contradiction.
HERE IS THE BEAUTY of the riddle:
If man were "like God" already knowing good and bad he would not need his Human nature of acquiring outside knowledge in order to survive.
But...
Since man is NOT like God, he must pursue outside knowledge OF good and bad in order to BE LIKE GOD.
And, according to the story of Eden--IN SO DOING he (rather than God) becomes responsible for the imperfect state of the world!
________________________________________________________________________________________
Remember: YOU are the student who must "square the circle" and resolve the tension between the perfect and benevolent Creator and the imperfect world of His own creation!
How do YOU solve the riddle?
1.Blame man for his own human nature.....or
2.Blame God for arbitrarily creating an unecessary tension between pursuit of knowledge and demand for obedience...or
3.Realize that the premise is flawed in the first place because you cannot square the circle!
It is the ARBITRARY decision which most troubles the devout believer in a benevolent God.
The Rabbinical puzzle make YOU the culprit in destroying God's reputation should you settle for #3.
The pious student will assume blame as a human and absolve God and the apologia is complete.
The rational thinker will absolve Adam because what is the point in possessing a reasoning mind if one is compelled to NOT use it?
IN SO DOING, the rational thinker LOSES GOD!
The Tension between rational and logical thought and the compulsion to faithfully believe in a benevolent Creator IS RESOLVED
by turning this philosophical dilemma into an HISTORICALLY TRUE STORY.
And that is exactly what has happened--isn't it? When we came into this world were were told the story
of Adam and Eve is AN HISTORICALLY TRUE event.
If you accept it as historically true: CONGRATULATIONS--YOU'VE SQUARED THE CIRCLE!!
1 .Being human you must pursue KNOWLEDGE.
2. If you pursue KNOWLEDGE you will die.
T wisting HUMAN NATURE into a compulsion to OBEY rather than pursue KNOWLEDGE is to destroy the internal guidance system of man's mind.
If God created man's internal guidance system (knowledge seeking)then God's demand that man surrender it is a diabolical contradiction.
HERE IS THE BEAUTY of the riddle:
If man were "like God" already knowing good and bad he would not need his Human nature of acquiring outside knowledge in order to survive.
But...
Since man is NOT like God, he must pursue outside knowledge OF good and bad in order to BE LIKE GOD.
And, according to the story of Eden--IN SO DOING he (rather than God) becomes responsible for the imperfect state of the world!
________________________________________________________________________________________
Remember: YOU are the student who must "square the circle" and resolve the tension between the perfect and benevolent Creator and the imperfect world of His own creation!
How do YOU solve the riddle?
1.Blame man for his own human nature.....or
2.Blame God for arbitrarily creating an unecessary tension between pursuit of knowledge and demand for obedience...or
3.Realize that the premise is flawed in the first place because you cannot square the circle!
It is the ARBITRARY decision which most troubles the devout believer in a benevolent God.
The Rabbinical puzzle make YOU the culprit in destroying God's reputation should you settle for #3.
The pious student will assume blame as a human and absolve God and the apologia is complete.
The rational thinker will absolve Adam because what is the point in possessing a reasoning mind if one is compelled to NOT use it?
IN SO DOING, the rational thinker LOSES GOD!
The Tension between rational and logical thought and the compulsion to faithfully believe in a benevolent Creator IS RESOLVED
by turning this philosophical dilemma into an HISTORICALLY TRUE STORY.
And that is exactly what has happened--isn't it? When we came into this world were were told the story
of Adam and Eve is AN HISTORICALLY TRUE event.
If you accept it as historically true: CONGRATULATIONS--YOU'VE SQUARED THE CIRCLE!!
A devout believer who loves God is often faced with people who ridicule and insult the idea of a supreme being who did NOT achieve perfection in His creation! The natural reaction is to try and explain how this could be.
This form of explanation is called "apologia" and the one making it is an Apologist. (No, they aren't really apologizing!)
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
But, the Rabbi of old had his work cut out for him in explaining how mankind could be in such a predicament and yet have as their author a benevolent Almighty creator!
Because of this tension ( the tension between concept and reality, the perfection that exists in the realm of the idea, but seems to disappear in manifestation.) the RABBI put the burden on the student to solve the riddle for himself.
What was the challenge? It was, in effect, to solve the problem of SQUARING THE CIRCLE in a philosophical context.
This is where you put on your thinking cap and gird up your loins! Shall we commence to accept this challenge?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
You are the student.
The ancient Rabbi is challenging YOU.
Can you solve the tension between the concept of a perfect God and the reality of an imperfect world? READ ON!
To solve any mystery, crime or puzzle we have to begin with the facts, the clues and the evidence.
We begin with what we logically agree upon as true:
1. Man is homo sapien. ( The "sapient" is Latin for Intelligent )
2. For man to live he must employ intelligence because:
A. Death requires no effort on the part of man, it only requires surrender
B. Life makes all other values possible.
3.Man can never "achieve" life as a goal because the act of living requires the struggle for survival.
Therefore:
4. Man is entirely dependent on intelligent use of acquired KNOWLEDGE in order to SURVIVE. (Lower animals rely on built-in instinct.)
5. Man's exercise of intelligent use of KNOWLEDGE is what separates him in kind from all other creatures.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I URGE YOU NOT TO SKIP OVER what follows.
If you miss the "rules of engagement" you miss the beauty of the riddle.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
LIFE cannot be an achievement of man because it exists in an ongoing continuum of pursuit requiring more and more knowledge to sustain.
Logically then, for man to DO NOTHING is to allow DEATH to occur. For man to exercise KNOWLEDGE is to sustain LIFE.
OBEDIENCE is a choice to "do nothing" but obey. The human mind becomes irrelevent to the process.
ACTIVE becomes PASSIVE.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
HUMAN NATURE for Homo Sapien means KNOWLEDGE is the means of SURVIVAL.
To not pursue the means of survival is to do the impossible: to NOT be homo sapien.
The only alternatives for Human Nature are:
1. Rational Being
or
2.Suicidal Animal
************************************************
So HOW does the RABBI construct a story which pits the TENSIONS against each other?
T he tension between concept and reality, the perfection that exists in the realm of the idea, but seems to disappear in manifestation
In the Garden of Eden the newly created homo sapien must struggle with the TENSION between the CHOICE to pursue KNOWLEDGE rather than TO SURVIVE!
Tricky riddle, eh?
1.Man's nature as homo sapien is to pursue knowledge FOR survival
2.To refuse Knowledge is to refuse the means by which one Survives as a Human.
I n the Garden of Eden the Creator God demands that Adam NOT exercise his human nature of relying on acquired knowledge because---God will break the connection by sentencing Adam to DEATH!
Remember:
A SQUARE circle can neither be constructed, described or conceived for it consists of no more than the juxtaposition of two contrary things which cannot be combined into one nature.
ADAM's dilemma i s a kind of Square Circle because, being a homo sapien, Adam must use knowledge to survive. To refuse to pursue Knowledge is to renounce his own Nature. The only EVIL in pursuing survival is in God's arbitrary decision to punish Adam for the very act of being Human!
S ome ancient rabbi who constructed this story was having a merry laugh with his Square-Circle dichotomy.
It implies an infinite regression of self-contradictions.
1 .Being human you must pursue KNOWLEDGE.
2. If you pursue KNOWLEDGE you will die.
T wisting HUMAN NATURE into a compulsion to OBEY rather than pursue KNOWLEDGE is to destroy the internal guidance system of man's mind.
If God created man's internal guidance system (knowledge seeking)then God's demand that man surrender it is a diabolical contradiction.
HERE IS THE BEAUTY of the riddle:
If man were "like God" already knowing good and bad he would not need his Human nature of acquiring outside knowledge in order to survive.
But...
Since man is NOT like God, he must pursue outside knowledge OF good and bad in order to BE LIKE GOD.
And, according to the story of Eden--IN SO DOING he (rather than God) becomes responsible for the imperfect state of the world!
________________________________________________________________________________________
Remember: YOU are the student who must "square the circle" and resolve the tension between the perfect and benevolent Creator and the imperfect world of His own creation!
How do YOU solve the riddle?
1.Blame man for his own human nature.....or
2.Blame God for arbitrarily creating an unecessary tension between pursuit of knowledge and demand for obedience...or
3.Realize that the premise is flawed in the first place because you cannot square the circle!
It is the ARBITRARY decision which most troubles the devout believer in a benevolent God.
The Rabbinical puzzle make YOU the culprit in destroying God's reputation should you settle for #3.
The pious student will assume blame as a human and absolve God and the apologia is complete.
The rational thinker will absolve Adam because what is the point in possessing a reasoning mind if one is compelled to NOT use it?
IN SO DOING, the rational thinker LOSES GOD!
The Tension between rational and logical thought and the compulsion to faithfully believe in a benevolent Creator IS RESOLVED
by turning this philosophical dilemma into an HISTORICALLY TRUE STORY.
And that is exactly what has happened--isn't it? When we came into this world were were told the story
of Adam and Eve is AN HISTORICALLY TRUE event.
If you accept it as historically true: CONGRATULATIONS--YOU'VE SQUARED THE CIRCLE!!
1 .Being human you must pursue KNOWLEDGE.
2. If you pursue KNOWLEDGE you will die.
T wisting HUMAN NATURE into a compulsion to OBEY rather than pursue KNOWLEDGE is to destroy the internal guidance system of man's mind.
If God created man's internal guidance system (knowledge seeking)then God's demand that man surrender it is a diabolical contradiction.
HERE IS THE BEAUTY of the riddle:
If man were "like God" already knowing good and bad he would not need his Human nature of acquiring outside knowledge in order to survive.
But...
Since man is NOT like God, he must pursue outside knowledge OF good and bad in order to BE LIKE GOD.
And, according to the story of Eden--IN SO DOING he (rather than God) becomes responsible for the imperfect state of the world!
________________________________________________________________________________________
Remember: YOU are the student who must "square the circle" and resolve the tension between the perfect and benevolent Creator and the imperfect world of His own creation!
How do YOU solve the riddle?
1.Blame man for his own human nature.....or
2.Blame God for arbitrarily creating an unecessary tension between pursuit of knowledge and demand for obedience...or
3.Realize that the premise is flawed in the first place because you cannot square the circle!
It is the ARBITRARY decision which most troubles the devout believer in a benevolent God.
The Rabbinical puzzle make YOU the culprit in destroying God's reputation should you settle for #3.
The pious student will assume blame as a human and absolve God and the apologia is complete.
The rational thinker will absolve Adam because what is the point in possessing a reasoning mind if one is compelled to NOT use it?
IN SO DOING, the rational thinker LOSES GOD!
The Tension between rational and logical thought and the compulsion to faithfully believe in a benevolent Creator IS RESOLVED
by turning this philosophical dilemma into an HISTORICALLY TRUE STORY.
And that is exactly what has happened--isn't it? When we came into this world were were told the story
of Adam and Eve is AN HISTORICALLY TRUE event.
If you accept it as historically true: CONGRATULATIONS--YOU'VE SQUARED THE CIRCLE!!
It implies an infinite regression of self-contradictions.
1 .Being human you must pursue KNOWLEDGE.
2. If you pursue KNOWLEDGE you will die.
T wisting HUMAN NATURE into a compulsion to OBEY rather than pursue KNOWLEDGE is to destroy the internal guidance system of man's mind.
If God created man's internal guidance system (knowledge seeking)then God's demand that man surrender it is a diabolical contradiction.
HERE IS THE BEAUTY of the riddle:
If man were "like God" already knowing good and bad he would not need his Human nature of acquiring outside knowledge in order to survive.
But...
Since man is NOT like God, he must pursue outside knowledge OF good and bad in order to BE LIKE GOD.
And, according to the story of Eden--IN SO DOING he (rather than God) becomes responsible for the imperfect state of the world!
________________________________________________________________________________________
Remember: YOU are the student who must "square the circle" and resolve the tension between the perfect and benevolent Creator and the imperfect world of His own creation!
How do YOU solve the riddle?
1.Blame man for his own human nature.....or
2.Blame God for arbitrarily creating an unecessary tension between pursuit of knowledge and demand for obedience...or
3.Realize that the premise is flawed in the first place because you cannot square the circle!
It is the ARBITRARY decision which most troubles the devout believer in a benevolent God.
The Rabbinical puzzle make YOU the culprit in destroying God's reputation should you settle for #3.
The pious student will assume blame as a human and absolve God and the apologia is complete.
The rational thinker will absolve Adam because what is the point in possessing a reasoning mind if one is compelled to NOT use it?
IN SO DOING, the rational thinker LOSES GOD!
The Tension between rational and logical thought and the compulsion to faithfully believe in a benevolent Creator IS RESOLVED
by turning this philosophical dilemma into an HISTORICALLY TRUE STORY.
And that is exactly what has happened--isn't it? When we came into this world were were told the story
of Adam and Eve is AN HISTORICALLY TRUE event.
If you accept it as historically true: CONGRATULATIONS--YOU'VE SQUARED THE CIRCLE!!
1 .Being human you must pursue KNOWLEDGE.
2. If you pursue KNOWLEDGE you will die.
T wisting HUMAN NATURE into a compulsion to OBEY rather than pursue KNOWLEDGE is to destroy the internal guidance system of man's mind.
If God created man's internal guidance system (knowledge seeking)then God's demand that man surrender it is a diabolical contradiction.
HERE IS THE BEAUTY of the riddle:
If man were "like God" already knowing good and bad he would not need his Human nature of acquiring outside knowledge in order to survive.
But...
Since man is NOT like God, he must pursue outside knowledge OF good and bad in order to BE LIKE GOD.
And, according to the story of Eden--IN SO DOING he (rather than God) becomes responsible for the imperfect state of the world!
________________________________________________________________________________________
Remember: YOU are the student who must "square the circle" and resolve the tension between the perfect and benevolent Creator and the imperfect world of His own creation!
How do YOU solve the riddle?
1.Blame man for his own human nature.....or
2.Blame God for arbitrarily creating an unecessary tension between pursuit of knowledge and demand for obedience...or
3.Realize that the premise is flawed in the first place because you cannot square the circle!
It is the ARBITRARY decision which most troubles the devout believer in a benevolent God.
The Rabbinical puzzle make YOU the culprit in destroying God's reputation should you settle for #3.
The pious student will assume blame as a human and absolve God and the apologia is complete.
The rational thinker will absolve Adam because what is the point in possessing a reasoning mind if one is compelled to NOT use it?
IN SO DOING, the rational thinker LOSES GOD!
The Tension between rational and logical thought and the compulsion to faithfully believe in a benevolent Creator IS RESOLVED
by turning this philosophical dilemma into an HISTORICALLY TRUE STORY.
And that is exactly what has happened--isn't it? When we came into this world were were told the story
of Adam and Eve is AN HISTORICALLY TRUE event.
If you accept it as historically true: CONGRATULATIONS--YOU'VE SQUARED THE CIRCLE!!
3.Man can never "achieve" life as a goal because the act of living requires the struggle for survival.
Therefore:
4. Man is entirely dependent on intelligent use of acquired KNOWLEDGE in order to SURVIVE. (Lower animals rely on built-in instinct.)
5. Man's exercise of intelligent use of KNOWLEDGE is what separates him in kind from all other creatures.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I URGE YOU NOT TO SKIP OVER what follows.
If you miss the "rules of engagement" you miss the beauty of the riddle.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
LIFE cannot be an achievement of man because it exists in an ongoing continuum of pursuit requiring more and more knowledge to sustain.
Logically then, for man to DO NOTHING is to allow DEATH to occur. For man to exercise KNOWLEDGE is to sustain LIFE.
OBEDIENCE is a choice to "do nothing" but obey. The human mind becomes irrelevent to the process.
ACTIVE becomes PASSIVE.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
HUMAN NATURE for Homo Sapien means KNOWLEDGE is the means of SURVIVAL.
To not pursue the means of survival is to do the impossible: to NOT be homo sapien.
The only alternatives for Human Nature are:
1. Rational Being
or
2.Suicidal Animal
************************************************
So HOW does the RABBI construct a story which pits the TENSIONS against each other?
T he tension between concept and reality, the perfection that exists in the realm of the idea, but seems to disappear in manifestation
In the Garden of Eden the newly created homo sapien must struggle with the TENSION between the CHOICE to pursue KNOWLEDGE rather than TO SURVIVE!
Tricky riddle, eh?
1.Man's nature as homo sapien is to pursue knowledge FOR survival
2.To refuse Knowledge is to refuse the means by which one Survives as a Human.
I n the Garden of Eden the Creator God demands that Adam NOT exercise his human nature of relying on acquired knowledge because---God will break the connection by sentencing Adam to DEATH!
Remember:
A SQUARE circle can neither be constructed, described or conceived for it consists of no more than the juxtaposition of two contrary things which cannot be combined into one nature.
ADAM's dilemma i s a kind of Square Circle because, being a homo sapien, Adam must use knowledge to survive. To refuse to pursue Knowledge is to renounce his own Nature. The only EVIL in pursuing survival is in God's arbitrary decision to punish Adam for the very act of being Human!
S ome ancient rabbi who constructed this story was having a merry laugh with his Square-Circle dichotomy.
It implies an infinite regression of self-contradictions.
1 .Being human you must pursue KNOWLEDGE.
2. If you pursue KNOWLEDGE you will die.
T wisting HUMAN NATURE into a compulsion to OBEY rather than pursue KNOWLEDGE is to destroy the internal guidance system of man's mind.
If God created man's internal guidance system (knowledge seeking)then God's demand that man surrender it is a diabolical contradiction.
HERE IS THE BEAUTY of the riddle:
If man were "like God" already knowing good and bad he would not need his Human nature of acquiring outside knowledge in order to survive.
But...
Since man is NOT like God, he must pursue outside knowledge OF good and bad in order to BE LIKE GOD.
And, according to the story of Eden--IN SO DOING he (rather than God) becomes responsible for the imperfect state of the world!
________________________________________________________________________________________
Remember: YOU are the student who must "square the circle" and resolve the tension between the perfect and benevolent Creator and the imperfect world of His own creation!
How do YOU solve the riddle?
1.Blame man for his own human nature.....or
2.Blame God for arbitrarily creating an unecessary tension between pursuit of knowledge and demand for obedience...or
3.Realize that the premise is flawed in the first place because you cannot square the circle!
It is the ARBITRARY decision which most troubles the devout believer in a benevolent God.
The Rabbinical puzzle make YOU the culprit in destroying God's reputation should you settle for #3.
The pious student will assume blame as a human and absolve God and the apologia is complete.
The rational thinker will absolve Adam because what is the point in possessing a reasoning mind if one is compelled to NOT use it?
IN SO DOING, the rational thinker LOSES GOD!
The Tension between rational and logical thought and the compulsion to faithfully believe in a benevolent Creator IS RESOLVED
by turning this philosophical dilemma into an HISTORICALLY TRUE STORY.
And that is exactly what has happened--isn't it? When we came into this world were were told the story
of Adam and Eve is AN HISTORICALLY TRUE event.
If you accept it as historically true: CONGRATULATIONS--YOU'VE SQUARED THE CIRCLE!!
1 .Being human you must pursue KNOWLEDGE.
2. If you pursue KNOWLEDGE you will die.
T wisting HUMAN NATURE into a compulsion to OBEY rather than pursue KNOWLEDGE is to destroy the internal guidance system of man's mind.
If God created man's internal guidance system (knowledge seeking)then God's demand that man surrender it is a diabolical contradiction.
HERE IS THE BEAUTY of the riddle:
If man were "like God" already knowing good and bad he would not need his Human nature of acquiring outside knowledge in order to survive.
But...
Since man is NOT like God, he must pursue outside knowledge OF good and bad in order to BE LIKE GOD.
And, according to the story of Eden--IN SO DOING he (rather than God) becomes responsible for the imperfect state of the world!
________________________________________________________________________________________
Remember: YOU are the student who must "square the circle" and resolve the tension between the perfect and benevolent Creator and the imperfect world of His own creation!
How do YOU solve the riddle?
1.Blame man for his own human nature.....or
2.Blame God for arbitrarily creating an unecessary tension between pursuit of knowledge and demand for obedience...or
3.Realize that the premise is flawed in the first place because you cannot square the circle!
It is the ARBITRARY decision which most troubles the devout believer in a benevolent God.
The Rabbinical puzzle make YOU the culprit in destroying God's reputation should you settle for #3.
The pious student will assume blame as a human and absolve God and the apologia is complete.
The rational thinker will absolve Adam because what is the point in possessing a reasoning mind if one is compelled to NOT use it?
IN SO DOING, the rational thinker LOSES GOD!
The Tension between rational and logical thought and the compulsion to faithfully believe in a benevolent Creator IS RESOLVED
by turning this philosophical dilemma into an HISTORICALLY TRUE STORY.
And that is exactly what has happened--isn't it? When we came into this world were were told the story
of Adam and Eve is AN HISTORICALLY TRUE event.
If you accept it as historically true: CONGRATULATIONS--YOU'VE SQUARED THE CIRCLE!!
It implies an infinite regression of self-contradictions.
1 .Being human you must pursue KNOWLEDGE.
2. If you pursue KNOWLEDGE you will die.
T wisting HUMAN NATURE into a compulsion to OBEY rather than pursue KNOWLEDGE is to destroy the internal guidance system of man's mind.
If God created man's internal guidance system (knowledge seeking)then God's demand that man surrender it is a diabolical contradiction.
HERE IS THE BEAUTY of the riddle:
If man were "like God" already knowing good and bad he would not need his Human nature of acquiring outside knowledge in order to survive.
But...
Since man is NOT like God, he must pursue outside knowledge OF good and bad in order to BE LIKE GOD.
And, according to the story of Eden--IN SO DOING he (rather than God) becomes responsible for the imperfect state of the world!
________________________________________________________________________________________
Remember: YOU are the student who must "square the circle" and resolve the tension between the perfect and benevolent Creator and the imperfect world of His own creation!
How do YOU solve the riddle?
1.Blame man for his own human nature.....or
2.Blame God for arbitrarily creating an unecessary tension between pursuit of knowledge and demand for obedience...or
3.Realize that the premise is flawed in the first place because you cannot square the circle!
It is the ARBITRARY decision which most troubles the devout believer in a benevolent God.
The Rabbinical puzzle make YOU the culprit in destroying God's reputation should you settle for #3.
The pious student will assume blame as a human and absolve God and the apologia is complete.
The rational thinker will absolve Adam because what is the point in possessing a reasoning mind if one is compelled to NOT use it?
IN SO DOING, the rational thinker LOSES GOD!
The Tension between rational and logical thought and the compulsion to faithfully believe in a benevolent Creator IS RESOLVED
by turning this philosophical dilemma into an HISTORICALLY TRUE STORY.
And that is exactly what has happened--isn't it? When we came into this world were were told the story
of Adam and Eve is AN HISTORICALLY TRUE event.
If you accept it as historically true: CONGRATULATIONS--YOU'VE SQUARED THE CIRCLE!!
1 .Being human you must pursue KNOWLEDGE.
2. If you pursue KNOWLEDGE you will die.
T wisting HUMAN NATURE into a compulsion to OBEY rather than pursue KNOWLEDGE is to destroy the internal guidance system of man's mind.
If God created man's internal guidance system (knowledge seeking)then God's demand that man surrender it is a diabolical contradiction.
HERE IS THE BEAUTY of the riddle:
If man were "like God" already knowing good and bad he would not need his Human nature of acquiring outside knowledge in order to survive.
But...
Since man is NOT like God, he must pursue outside knowledge OF good and bad in order to BE LIKE GOD.
And, according to the story of Eden--IN SO DOING he (rather than God) becomes responsible for the imperfect state of the world!
________________________________________________________________________________________
Remember: YOU are the student who must "square the circle" and resolve the tension between the perfect and benevolent Creator and the imperfect world of His own creation!
How do YOU solve the riddle?
1.Blame man for his own human nature.....or
2.Blame God for arbitrarily creating an unecessary tension between pursuit of knowledge and demand for obedience...or
3.Realize that the premise is flawed in the first place because you cannot square the circle!
It is the ARBITRARY decision which most troubles the devout believer in a benevolent God.
The Rabbinical puzzle make YOU the culprit in destroying God's reputation should you settle for #3.
The pious student will assume blame as a human and absolve God and the apologia is complete.
The rational thinker will absolve Adam because what is the point in possessing a reasoning mind if one is compelled to NOT use it?
IN SO DOING, the rational thinker LOSES GOD!
The Tension between rational and logical thought and the compulsion to faithfully believe in a benevolent Creator IS RESOLVED
by turning this philosophical dilemma into an HISTORICALLY TRUE STORY.
And that is exactly what has happened--isn't it? When we came into this world were were told the story
of Adam and Eve is AN HISTORICALLY TRUE event.
If you accept it as historically true: CONGRATULATIONS--YOU'VE SQUARED THE CIRCLE!!
Let me reveal my intention in discussing this riddle.
I propose to demonstrate that this squaring-the circle riddle actually became the basis for the story
of ADAM and EVE in the Garden of Eden!
Does that stimulate your curiosity--I hope?
If so---bear with me a moment. Let me build my proof one step at a time.
To perform this demonstration properly I'll need your willing participation.
You will be compelled to USE YOUR BRAIN. But, I'll try and make it fun. Okay?
The nature of a square and the nature of a circle are such they aren't ANYTHING alike.
A square has more sides than a circle. (Duh!)
In the olden days (before our common era) only 2 tools were provided to a student for constructing geometric figures. The straight edge ruler and the compass.
Drawing a circle is easy. Constructing a square is easy.
WARNING!! a SQUARE circle can neither be constructed, described or conceived.
The actual space inside (the area) is certainly different between the two...
It consists of no more than the juxtaposition of two contrary things which cannot be combined into one nature.
In Fact: the nature of each requires they remain what they are no matter what.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Now I'm guessing that at this point I've lost more than half of all the readers who stumble upon this topic!!
If you are still hanging in there with me---I congratulate you! I hope to reward your efforts...
_________________________________________________________________________________________
I propose to demonstrate that the writer of the Adam and Eve story was a shrewd logician or rabbi very much aware of the Square Circle problem.
Consider:
From "Torah Metaphysics versus Newtonian Empiricism," ©Rabbi Dr. Shimon Dovid Cowen,article published in the journal
B'Or Ha'Torah: Science, Art, and Modern Life in the Light of the Torah,
For the Rabbi, "circle in the square" can symbolize the tension between concept and reality, the perfection that exists in the realm of the idea, but seems to disappear in manifestation.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is O bvious to thinking people wh o believe in God that we do NOT live in the BEST of all POSSIBLE worlds.
T he tension between what God is able to create and the reality that things are not perfect is troubling.
A devout believer who loves God is often faced with people who ridicule and insult the idea of a supreme being who did NOT achieve perfection in His creation! The natural reaction is to try and explain how this could be.
This form of explanation is called "apologia" and the one making it is an Apologist. (No, they aren't really apologizing!)
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
But, the Rabbi of old had his work cut out for him in explaining how mankind could be in such a predicament and yet have as their author a benevolent Almighty creator!
Because of this tension ( the tension between concept and reality, the perfection that exists in the realm of the idea, but seems to disappear in manifestation.) the RABBI put the burden on the student to solve the riddle for himself.
What was the challenge? It was, in effect, to solve the problem of SQUARING THE CIRCLE in a philosophical context.
This is where you put on your thinking cap and gird up your loins! Shall we commence to accept this challenge?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
You are the student.
The ancient Rabbi is challenging YOU.
Can you solve the tension between the concept of a perfect God and the reality of an imperfect world? READ ON!
To solve any mystery, crime or puzzle we have to begin with the facts, the clues and the evidence.
We begin with what we logically agree upon as true:
1. Man is homo sapien. ( The "sapient" is Latin for Intelligent )
2. For man to live he must employ intelligence because:
A. Death requires no effort on the part of man, it only requires surrender
B. Life makes all other values possible.
3.Man can never "achieve" life as a goal because the act of living requires the struggle for survival.
Therefore:
4. Man is entirely dependent on intelligent use of acquired KNOWLEDGE in order to SURVIVE. (Lower animals rely on built-in instinct.)
5. Man's exercise of intelligent use of KNOWLEDGE is what separates him in kind from all other creatures.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I URGE YOU NOT TO SKIP OVER what follows.
If you miss the "rules of engagement" you miss the beauty of the riddle.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
LIFE cannot be an achievement of man because it exists in an ongoing continuum of pursuit requiring more and more knowledge to sustain.
Logically then, for man to DO NOTHING is to allow DEATH to occur. For man to exercise KNOWLEDGE is to sustain LIFE.
OBEDIENCE is a choice to "do nothing" but obey. The human mind becomes irrelevent to the process.
ACTIVE becomes PASSIVE.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
HUMAN NATURE for Homo Sapien means KNOWLEDGE is the means of SURVIVAL.
To not pursue the means of survival is to do the impossible: to NOT be homo sapien.
The only alternatives for Human Nature are:
1. Rational Being
or
2.Suicidal Animal
************************************************
So HOW does the RABBI construct a story which pits the TENSIONS against each other?
T he tension between concept and reality, the perfection that exists in the realm of the idea, but seems to disappear in manifestation
In the Garden of Eden the newly created homo sapien must struggle with the TENSION between the CHOICE to pursue KNOWLEDGE rather than TO SURVIVE!
Tricky riddle, eh?
1.Man's nature as homo sapien is to pursue knowledge FOR survival
2.To refuse Knowledge is to refuse the means by which one Survives as a Human.
I n the Garden of Eden the Creator God demands that Adam NOT exercise his human nature of relying on acquired knowledge because---God will break the connection by sentencing Adam to DEATH!
Remember:
A SQUARE circle can neither be constructed, described or conceived for it consists of no more than the juxtaposition of two contrary things which cannot be combined into one nature.
ADAM's dilemma i s a kind of Square Circle because, being a homo sapien, Adam must use knowledge to survive. To refuse to pursue Knowledge is to renounce his own Nature. The only EVIL in pursuing survival is in God's arbitrary decision to punish Adam for the very act of being Human!
S ome ancient rabbi who constructed this story was having a merry laugh with his Square-Circle dichotomy.
It implies an infinite regression of self-contradictions.
1 .Being human you must pursue KNOWLEDGE.
2. If you pursue KNOWLEDGE you will die.
T wisting HUMAN NATURE into a compulsion to OBEY rather than pursue KNOWLEDGE is to destroy the internal guidance system of man's mind.
If God created man's internal guidance system (knowledge seeking)then God's demand that man surrender it is a diabolical contradiction.
HERE IS THE BEAUTY of the riddle:
If man were "like God" already knowing good and bad he would not need his Human nature of acquiring outside knowledge in order to survive.
But...
Since man is NOT like God, he must pursue outside knowledge OF good and bad in order to BE LIKE GOD.
And, according to the story of Eden--IN SO DOING he (rather than God) becomes responsible for the imperfect state of the world!
________________________________________________________________________________________
Remember: YOU are the student who must "square the circle" and resolve the tension between the perfect and benevolent Creator and the imperfect world of His own creation!
How do YOU solve the riddle?
1.Blame man for his own human nature.....or
2.Blame God for arbitrarily creating an unecessary tension between pursuit of knowledge and demand for obedience...or
3.Realize that the premise is flawed in the first place because you cannot square the circle!
It is the ARBITRARY decision which most troubles the devout believer in a benevolent God.
The Rabbinical puzzle make YOU the culprit in destroying God's reputation should you settle for #3.
The pious student will assume blame as a human and absolve God and the apologia is complete.
The rational thinker will absolve Adam because what is the point in possessing a reasoning mind if one is compelled to NOT use it?
IN SO DOING, the rational thinker LOSES GOD!
The Tension between rational and logical thought and the compulsion to faithfully believe in a benevolent Creator IS RESOLVED
by turning this philosophical dilemma into an HISTORICALLY TRUE STORY.
And that is exactly what has happened--isn't it? When we came into this world were were told the story
of Adam and Eve is AN HISTORICALLY TRUE event.
If you accept it as historically true: CONGRATULATIONS--YOU'VE SQUARED THE CIRCLE!!
1 .Being human you must pursue KNOWLEDGE.
2. If you pursue KNOWLEDGE you will die.
T wisting HUMAN NATURE into a compulsion to OBEY rather than pursue KNOWLEDGE is to destroy the internal guidance system of man's mind.
If God created man's internal guidance system (knowledge seeking)then God's demand that man surrender it is a diabolical contradiction.
HERE IS THE BEAUTY of the riddle:
If man were "like God" already knowing good and bad he would not need his Human nature of acquiring outside knowledge in order to survive.
But...
Since man is NOT like God, he must pursue outside knowledge OF good and bad in order to BE LIKE GOD.
And, according to the story of Eden--IN SO DOING he (rather than God) becomes responsible for the imperfect state of the world!
________________________________________________________________________________________
Remember: YOU are the student who must "square the circle" and resolve the tension between the perfect and benevolent Creator and the imperfect world of His own creation!
How do YOU solve the riddle?
1.Blame man for his own human nature.....or
2.Blame God for arbitrarily creating an unecessary tension between pursuit of knowledge and demand for obedience...or
3.Realize that the premise is flawed in the first place because you cannot square the circle!
It is the ARBITRARY decision which most troubles the devout believer in a benevolent God.
The Rabbinical puzzle make YOU the culprit in destroying God's reputation should you settle for #3.
The pious student will assume blame as a human and absolve God and the apologia is complete.
The rational thinker will absolve Adam because what is the point in possessing a reasoning mind if one is compelled to NOT use it?
IN SO DOING, the rational thinker LOSES GOD!
The Tension between rational and logical thought and the compulsion to faithfully believe in a benevolent Creator IS RESOLVED
by turning this philosophical dilemma into an HISTORICALLY TRUE STORY.
And that is exactly what has happened--isn't it? When we came into this world were were told the story
of Adam and Eve is AN HISTORICALLY TRUE event.
If you accept it as historically true: CONGRATULATIONS--YOU'VE SQUARED THE CIRCLE!!
It implies an infinite regression of self-contradictions.
1 .Being human you must pursue KNOWLEDGE.
2. If you pursue KNOWLEDGE you will die.
T wisting HUMAN NATURE into a compulsion to OBEY rather than pursue KNOWLEDGE is to destroy the internal guidance system of man's mind.
If God created man's internal guidance system (knowledge seeking)then God's demand that man surrender it is a diabolical contradiction.
HERE IS THE BEAUTY of the riddle:
If man were "like God" already knowing good and bad he would not need his Human nature of acquiring outside knowledge in order to survive.
But...
Since man is NOT like God, he must pursue outside knowledge OF good and bad in order to BE LIKE GOD.
And, according to the story of Eden--IN SO DOING he (rather than God) becomes responsible for the imperfect state of the world!
________________________________________________________________________________________
Remember: YOU are the student who must "square the circle" and resolve the tension between the perfect and benevolent Creator and the imperfect world of His own creation!
How do YOU solve the riddle?
1.Blame man for his own human nature.....or
2.Blame God for arbitrarily creating an unecessary tension between pursuit of knowledge and demand for obedience...or
3.Realize that the premise is flawed in the first place because you cannot square the circle!
It is the ARBITRARY decision which most troubles the devout believer in a benevolent God.
The Rabbinical puzzle make YOU the culprit in destroying God's reputation should you settle for #3.
The pious student will assume blame as a human and absolve God and the apologia is complete.
The rational thinker will absolve Adam because what is the point in possessing a reasoning mind if one is compelled to NOT use it?
IN SO DOING, the rational thinker LOSES GOD!
The Tension between rational and logical thought and the compulsion to faithfully believe in a benevolent Creator IS RESOLVED
by turning this philosophical dilemma into an HISTORICALLY TRUE STORY.
And that is exactly what has happened--isn't it? When we came into this world were were told the story
of Adam and Eve is AN HISTORICALLY TRUE event.
If you accept it as historically true: CONGRATULATIONS--YOU'VE SQUARED THE CIRCLE!!
1 .Being human you must pursue KNOWLEDGE.
2. If you pursue KNOWLEDGE you will die.
T wisting HUMAN NATURE into a compulsion to OBEY rather than pursue KNOWLEDGE is to destroy the internal guidance system of man's mind.
If God created man's internal guidance system (knowledge seeking)then God's demand that man surrender it is a diabolical contradiction.
HERE IS THE BEAUTY of the riddle:
If man were "like God" already knowing good and bad he would not need his Human nature of acquiring outside knowledge in order to survive.
But...
Since man is NOT like God, he must pursue outside knowledge OF good and bad in order to BE LIKE GOD.
And, according to the story of Eden--IN SO DOING he (rather than God) becomes responsible for the imperfect state of the world!
________________________________________________________________________________________
Remember: YOU are the student who must "square the circle" and resolve the tension between the perfect and benevolent Creator and the imperfect world of His own creation!
How do YOU solve the riddle?
1.Blame man for his own human nature.....or
2.Blame God for arbitrarily creating an unecessary tension between pursuit of knowledge and demand for obedience...or
3.Realize that the premise is flawed in the first place because you cannot square the circle!
It is the ARBITRARY decision which most troubles the devout believer in a benevolent God.
The Rabbinical puzzle make YOU the culprit in destroying God's reputation should you settle for #3.
The pious student will assume blame as a human and absolve God and the apologia is complete.
The rational thinker will absolve Adam because what is the point in possessing a reasoning mind if one is compelled to NOT use it?
IN SO DOING, the rational thinker LOSES GOD!
The Tension between rational and logical thought and the compulsion to faithfully believe in a benevolent Creator IS RESOLVED
by turning this philosophical dilemma into an HISTORICALLY TRUE STORY.
And that is exactly what has happened--isn't it? When we came into this world were were told the story
of Adam and Eve is AN HISTORICALLY TRUE event.
If you accept it as historically true: CONGRATULATIONS--YOU'VE SQUARED THE CIRCLE!!
3.Man can never "achieve" life as a goal because the act of living requires the struggle for survival.
Therefore:
4. Man is entirely dependent on intelligent use of acquired KNOWLEDGE in order to SURVIVE. (Lower animals rely on built-in instinct.)
5. Man's exercise of intelligent use of KNOWLEDGE is what separates him in kind from all other creatures.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I URGE YOU NOT TO SKIP OVER what follows.
If you miss the "rules of engagement" you miss the beauty of the riddle.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
LIFE cannot be an achievement of man because it exists in an ongoing continuum of pursuit requiring more and more knowledge to sustain.
Logically then, for man to DO NOTHING is to allow DEATH to occur. For man to exercise KNOWLEDGE is to sustain LIFE.
OBEDIENCE is a choice to "do nothing" but obey. The human mind becomes irrelevent to the process.
ACTIVE becomes PASSIVE.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
HUMAN NATURE for Homo Sapien means KNOWLEDGE is the means of SURVIVAL.
To not pursue the means of survival is to do the impossible: to NOT be homo sapien.
The only alternatives for Human Nature are:
1. Rational Being
or
2.Suicidal Animal
************************************************
So HOW does the RABBI construct a story which pits the TENSIONS against each other?
T he tension between concept and reality, the perfection that exists in the realm of the idea, but seems to disappear in manifestation
In the Garden of Eden the newly created homo sapien must struggle with the TENSION between the CHOICE to pursue KNOWLEDGE rather than TO SURVIVE!
Tricky riddle, eh?
1.Man's nature as homo sapien is to pursue knowledge FOR survival
2.To refuse Knowledge is to refuse the means by which one Survives as a Human.
I n the Garden of Eden the Creator God demands that Adam NOT exercise his human nature of relying on acquired knowledge because---God will break the connection by sentencing Adam to DEATH!
Remember:
A SQUARE circle can neither be constructed, described or conceived for it consists of no more than the juxtaposition of two contrary things which cannot be combined into one nature.
ADAM's dilemma i s a kind of Square Circle because, being a homo sapien, Adam must use knowledge to survive. To refuse to pursue Knowledge is to renounce his own Nature. The only EVIL in pursuing survival is in God's arbitrary decision to punish Adam for the very act of being Human!
S ome ancient rabbi who constructed this story was having a merry laugh with his Square-Circle dichotomy.
It implies an infinite regression of self-contradictions.
1 .Being human you must pursue KNOWLEDGE.
2. If you pursue KNOWLEDGE you will die.
T wisting HUMAN NATURE into a compulsion to OBEY rather than pursue KNOWLEDGE is to destroy the internal guidance system of man's mind.
If God created man's internal guidance system (knowledge seeking)then God's demand that man surrender it is a diabolical contradiction.
HERE IS THE BEAUTY of the riddle:
If man were "like God" already knowing good and bad he would not need his Human nature of acquiring outside knowledge in order to survive.
But...
Since man is NOT like God, he must pursue outside knowledge OF good and bad in order to BE LIKE GOD.
And, according to the story of Eden--IN SO DOING he (rather than God) becomes responsible for the imperfect state of the world!
________________________________________________________________________________________
Remember: YOU are the student who must "square the circle" and resolve the tension between the perfect and benevolent Creator and the imperfect world of His own creation!
How do YOU solve the riddle?
1.Blame man for his own human nature.....or
2.Blame God for arbitrarily creating an unecessary tension between pursuit of knowledge and demand for obedience...or
3.Realize that the premise is flawed in the first place because you cannot square the circle!
It is the ARBITRARY decision which most troubles the devout believer in a benevolent God.
The Rabbinical puzzle make YOU the culprit in destroying God's reputation should you settle for #3.
The pious student will assume blame as a human and absolve God and the apologia is complete.
The rational thinker will absolve Adam because what is the point in possessing a reasoning mind if one is compelled to NOT use it?
IN SO DOING, the rational thinker LOSES GOD!
The Tension between rational and logical thought and the compulsion to faithfully believe in a benevolent Creator IS RESOLVED
by turning this philosophical dilemma into an HISTORICALLY TRUE STORY.
And that is exactly what has happened--isn't it? When we came into this world were were told the story
of Adam and Eve is AN HISTORICALLY TRUE event.
If you accept it as historically true: CONGRATULATIONS--YOU'VE SQUARED THE CIRCLE!!
1 .Being human you must pursue KNOWLEDGE.
2. If you pursue KNOWLEDGE you will die.
T wisting HUMAN NATURE into a compulsion to OBEY rather than pursue KNOWLEDGE is to destroy the internal guidance system of man's mind.
If God created man's internal guidance system (knowledge seeking)then God's demand that man surrender it is a diabolical contradiction.
HERE IS THE BEAUTY of the riddle:
If man were "like God" already knowing good and bad he would not need his Human nature of acquiring outside knowledge in order to survive.
But...
Since man is NOT like God, he must pursue outside knowledge OF good and bad in order to BE LIKE GOD.
And, according to the story of Eden--IN SO DOING he (rather than God) becomes responsible for the imperfect state of the world!
________________________________________________________________________________________
Remember: YOU are the student who must "square the circle" and resolve the tension between the perfect and benevolent Creator and the imperfect world of His own creation!
How do YOU solve the riddle?
1.Blame man for his own human nature.....or
2.Blame God for arbitrarily creating an unecessary tension between pursuit of knowledge and demand for obedience...or
3.Realize that the premise is flawed in the first place because you cannot square the circle!
It is the ARBITRARY decision which most troubles the devout believer in a benevolent God.
The Rabbinical puzzle make YOU the culprit in destroying God's reputation should you settle for #3.
The pious student will assume blame as a human and absolve God and the apologia is complete.
The rational thinker will absolve Adam because what is the point in possessing a reasoning mind if one is compelled to NOT use it?
IN SO DOING, the rational thinker LOSES GOD!
The Tension between rational and logical thought and the compulsion to faithfully believe in a benevolent Creator IS RESOLVED
by turning this philosophical dilemma into an HISTORICALLY TRUE STORY.
And that is exactly what has happened--isn't it? When we came into this world were were told the story
of Adam and Eve is AN HISTORICALLY TRUE event.
If you accept it as historically true: CONGRATULATIONS--YOU'VE SQUARED THE CIRCLE!!
It implies an infinite regression of self-contradictions.
1 .Being human you must pursue KNOWLEDGE.
2. If you pursue KNOWLEDGE you will die.
T wisting HUMAN NATURE into a compulsion to OBEY rather than pursue KNOWLEDGE is to destroy the internal guidance system of man's mind.
If God created man's internal guidance system (knowledge seeking)then God's demand that man surrender it is a diabolical contradiction.
HERE IS THE BEAUTY of the riddle:
If man were "like God" already knowing good and bad he would not need his Human nature of acquiring outside knowledge in order to survive.
But...
Since man is NOT like God, he must pursue outside knowledge OF good and bad in order to BE LIKE GOD.
And, according to the story of Eden--IN SO DOING he (rather than God) becomes responsible for the imperfect state of the world!
________________________________________________________________________________________
Remember: YOU are the student who must "square the circle" and resolve the tension between the perfect and benevolent Creator and the imperfect world of His own creation!
How do YOU solve the riddle?
1.Blame man for his own human nature.....or
2.Blame God for arbitrarily creating an unecessary tension between pursuit of knowledge and demand for obedience...or
3.Realize that the premise is flawed in the first place because you cannot square the circle!
It is the ARBITRARY decision which most troubles the devout believer in a benevolent God.
The Rabbinical puzzle make YOU the culprit in destroying God's reputation should you settle for #3.
The pious student will assume blame as a human and absolve God and the apologia is complete.
The rational thinker will absolve Adam because what is the point in possessing a reasoning mind if one is compelled to NOT use it?
IN SO DOING, the rational thinker LOSES GOD!
The Tension between rational and logical thought and the compulsion to faithfully believe in a benevolent Creator IS RESOLVED
by turning this philosophical dilemma into an HISTORICALLY TRUE STORY.
And that is exactly what has happened--isn't it? When we came into this world were were told the story
of Adam and Eve is AN HISTORICALLY TRUE event.
If you accept it as historically true: CONGRATULATIONS--YOU'VE SQUARED THE CIRCLE!!
1 .Being human you must pursue KNOWLEDGE.
2. If you pursue KNOWLEDGE you will die.
T wisting HUMAN NATURE into a compulsion to OBEY rather than pursue KNOWLEDGE is to destroy the internal guidance system of man's mind.
If God created man's internal guidance system (knowledge seeking)then God's demand that man surrender it is a diabolical contradiction.
HERE IS THE BEAUTY of the riddle:
If man were "like God" already knowing good and bad he would not need his Human nature of acquiring outside knowledge in order to survive.
But...
Since man is NOT like God, he must pursue outside knowledge OF good and bad in order to BE LIKE GOD.
And, according to the story of Eden--IN SO DOING he (rather than God) becomes responsible for the imperfect state of the world!
________________________________________________________________________________________
Remember: YOU are the student who must "square the circle" and resolve the tension between the perfect and benevolent Creator and the imperfect world of His own creation!
How do YOU solve the riddle?
1.Blame man for his own human nature.....or
2.Blame God for arbitrarily creating an unecessary tension between pursuit of knowledge and demand for obedience...or
3.Realize that the premise is flawed in the first place because you cannot square the circle!
It is the ARBITRARY decision which most troubles the devout believer in a benevolent God.
The Rabbinical puzzle make YOU the culprit in destroying God's reputation should you settle for #3.
The pious student will assume blame as a human and absolve God and the apologia is complete.
The rational thinker will absolve Adam because what is the point in possessing a reasoning mind if one is compelled to NOT use it?
IN SO DOING, the rational thinker LOSES GOD!
The Tension between rational and logical thought and the compulsion to faithfully believe in a benevolent Creator IS RESOLVED
by turning this philosophical dilemma into an HISTORICALLY TRUE STORY.
And that is exactly what has happened--isn't it? When we came into this world were were told the story
of Adam and Eve is AN HISTORICALLY TRUE event.
If you accept it as historically true: CONGRATULATIONS--YOU'VE SQUARED THE CIRCLE!!
A devout believer who loves God is often faced with people who ridicule and insult the idea of a supreme being who did NOT achieve perfection in His creation! The natural reaction is to try and explain how this could be.
This form of explanation is called "apologia" and the one making it is an Apologist. (No, they aren't really apologizing!)
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
But, the Rabbi of old had his work cut out for him in explaining how mankind could be in such a predicament and yet have as their author a benevolent Almighty creator!
Because of this tension ( the tension between concept and reality, the perfection that exists in the realm of the idea, but seems to disappear in manifestation.) the RABBI put the burden on the student to solve the riddle for himself.
What was the challenge? It was, in effect, to solve the problem of SQUARING THE CIRCLE in a philosophical context.
This is where you put on your thinking cap and gird up your loins! Shall we commence to accept this challenge?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
You are the student.
The ancient Rabbi is challenging YOU.
Can you solve the tension between the concept of a perfect God and the reality of an imperfect world? READ ON!
To solve any mystery, crime or puzzle we have to begin with the facts, the clues and the evidence.
We begin with what we logically agree upon as true:
1. Man is homo sapien. ( The "sapient" is Latin for Intelligent )
2. For man to live he must employ intelligence because:
A. Death requires no effort on the part of man, it only requires surrender
B. Life makes all other values possible.
3.Man can never "achieve" life as a goal because the act of living requires the struggle for survival.
Therefore:
4. Man is entirely dependent on intelligent use of acquired KNOWLEDGE in order to SURVIVE. (Lower animals rely on built-in instinct.)
5. Man's exercise of intelligent use of KNOWLEDGE is what separates him in kind from all other creatures.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I URGE YOU NOT TO SKIP OVER what follows.
If you miss the "rules of engagement" you miss the beauty of the riddle.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
LIFE cannot be an achievement of man because it exists in an ongoing continuum of pursuit requiring more and more knowledge to sustain.
Logically then, for man to DO NOTHING is to allow DEATH to occur. For man to exercise KNOWLEDGE is to sustain LIFE.
OBEDIENCE is a choice to "do nothing" but obey. The human mind becomes irrelevent to the process.
ACTIVE becomes PASSIVE.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
HUMAN NATURE for Homo Sapien means KNOWLEDGE is the means of SURVIVAL.
To not pursue the means of survival is to do the impossible: to NOT be homo sapien.
The only alternatives for Human Nature are:
1. Rational Being
or
2.Suicidal Animal
************************************************
So HOW does the RABBI construct a story which pits the TENSIONS against each other?
T he tension between concept and reality, the perfection that exists in the realm of the idea, but seems to disappear in manifestation
In the Garden of Eden the newly created homo sapien must struggle with the TENSION between the CHOICE to pursue KNOWLEDGE rather than TO SURVIVE!
Tricky riddle, eh?
1.Man's nature as homo sapien is to pursue knowledge FOR survival
2.To refuse Knowledge is to refuse the means by which one Survives as a Human.
I n the Garden of Eden the Creator God demands that Adam NOT exercise his human nature of relying on acquired knowledge because---God will break the connection by sentencing Adam to DEATH!
Remember:
A SQUARE circle can neither be constructed, described or conceived for it consists of no more than the juxtaposition of two contrary things which cannot be combined into one nature.
ADAM's dilemma i s a kind of Square Circle because, being a homo sapien, Adam must use knowledge to survive. To refuse to pursue Knowledge is to renounce his own Nature. The only EVIL in pursuing survival is in God's arbitrary decision to punish Adam for the very act of being Human!
S ome ancient rabbi who constructed this story was having a merry laugh with his Square-Circle dichotomy.
It implies an infinite regression of self-contradictions.
1 .Being human you must pursue KNOWLEDGE.
2. If you pursue KNOWLEDGE you will die.
T wisting HUMAN NATURE into a compulsion to OBEY rather than pursue KNOWLEDGE is to destroy the internal guidance system of man's mind.
If God created man's internal guidance system (knowledge seeking)then God's demand that man surrender it is a diabolical contradiction.
HERE IS THE BEAUTY of the riddle:
If man were "like God" already knowing good and bad he would not need his Human nature of acquiring outside knowledge in order to survive.
But...
Since man is NOT like God, he must pursue outside knowledge OF good and bad in order to BE LIKE GOD.
And, according to the story of Eden--IN SO DOING he (rather than God) becomes responsible for the imperfect state of the world!
________________________________________________________________________________________
Remember: YOU are the student who must "square the circle" and resolve the tension between the perfect and benevolent Creator and the imperfect world of His own creation!
How do YOU solve the riddle?
1.Blame man for his own human nature.....or
2.Blame God for arbitrarily creating an unecessary tension between pursuit of knowledge and demand for obedience...or
3.Realize that the premise is flawed in the first place because you cannot square the circle!
It is the ARBITRARY decision which most troubles the devout believer in a benevolent God.
The Rabbinical puzzle make YOU the culprit in destroying God's reputation should you settle for #3.
The pious student will assume blame as a human and absolve God and the apologia is complete.
The rational thinker will absolve Adam because what is the point in possessing a reasoning mind if one is compelled to NOT use it?
IN SO DOING, the rational thinker LOSES GOD!
The Tension between rational and logical thought and the compulsion to faithfully believe in a benevolent Creator IS RESOLVED
by turning this philosophical dilemma into an HISTORICALLY TRUE STORY.
And that is exactly what has happened--isn't it? When we came into this world were were told the story
of Adam and Eve is AN HISTORICALLY TRUE event.
If you accept it as historically true: CONGRATULATIONS--YOU'VE SQUARED THE CIRCLE!!
1 .Being human you must pursue KNOWLEDGE.
2. If you pursue KNOWLEDGE you will die.
T wisting HUMAN NATURE into a compulsion to OBEY rather than pursue KNOWLEDGE is to destroy the internal guidance system of man's mind.
If God created man's internal guidance system (knowledge seeking)then God's demand that man surrender it is a diabolical contradiction.
HERE IS THE BEAUTY of the riddle:
If man were "like God" already knowing good and bad he would not need his Human nature of acquiring outside knowledge in order to survive.
But...
Since man is NOT like God, he must pursue outside knowledge OF good and bad in order to BE LIKE GOD.
And, according to the story of Eden--IN SO DOING he (rather than God) becomes responsible for the imperfect state of the world!
________________________________________________________________________________________
Remember: YOU are the student who must "square the circle" and resolve the tension between the perfect and benevolent Creator and the imperfect world of His own creation!
How do YOU solve the riddle?
1.Blame man for his own human nature.....or
2.Blame God for arbitrarily creating an unecessary tension between pursuit of knowledge and demand for obedience...or
3.Realize that the premise is flawed in the first place because you cannot square the circle!
It is the ARBITRARY decision which most troubles the devout believer in a benevolent God.
The Rabbinical puzzle make YOU the culprit in destroying God's reputation should you settle for #3.
The pious student will assume blame as a human and absolve God and the apologia is complete.
The rational thinker will absolve Adam because what is the point in possessing a reasoning mind if one is compelled to NOT use it?
IN SO DOING, the rational thinker LOSES GOD!
The Tension between rational and logical thought and the compulsion to faithfully believe in a benevolent Creator IS RESOLVED
by turning this philosophical dilemma into an HISTORICALLY TRUE STORY.
And that is exactly what has happened--isn't it? When we came into this world were were told the story
of Adam and Eve is AN HISTORICALLY TRUE event.
If you accept it as historically true: CONGRATULATIONS--YOU'VE SQUARED THE CIRCLE!!
It implies an infinite regression of self-contradictions.
1 .Being human you must pursue KNOWLEDGE.
2. If you pursue KNOWLEDGE you will die.
T wisting HUMAN NATURE into a compulsion to OBEY rather than pursue KNOWLEDGE is to destroy the internal guidance system of man's mind.
If God created man's internal guidance system (knowledge seeking)then God's demand that man surrender it is a diabolical contradiction.
HERE IS THE BEAUTY of the riddle:
If man were "like God" already knowing good and bad he would not need his Human nature of acquiring outside knowledge in order to survive.
But...
Since man is NOT like God, he must pursue outside knowledge OF good and bad in order to BE LIKE GOD.
And, according to the story of Eden--IN SO DOING he (rather than God) becomes responsible for the imperfect state of the world!
________________________________________________________________________________________
Remember: YOU are the student who must "square the circle" and resolve the tension between the perfect and benevolent Creator and the imperfect world of His own creation!
How do YOU solve the riddle?
1.Blame man for his own human nature.....or
2.Blame God for arbitrarily creating an unecessary tension between pursuit of knowledge and demand for obedience...or
3.Realize that the premise is flawed in the first place because you cannot square the circle!
It is the ARBITRARY decision which most troubles the devout believer in a benevolent God.
The Rabbinical puzzle make YOU the culprit in destroying God's reputation should you settle for #3.
The pious student will assume blame as a human and absolve God and the apologia is complete.
The rational thinker will absolve Adam because what is the point in possessing a reasoning mind if one is compelled to NOT use it?
IN SO DOING, the rational thinker LOSES GOD!
The Tension between rational and logical thought and the compulsion to faithfully believe in a benevolent Creator IS RESOLVED
by turning this philosophical dilemma into an HISTORICALLY TRUE STORY.
And that is exactly what has happened--isn't it? When we came into this world were were told the story
of Adam and Eve is AN HISTORICALLY TRUE event.
If you accept it as historically true: CONGRATULATIONS--YOU'VE SQUARED THE CIRCLE!!
1 .Being human you must pursue KNOWLEDGE.
2. If you pursue KNOWLEDGE you will die.
T wisting HUMAN NATURE into a compulsion to OBEY rather than pursue KNOWLEDGE is to destroy the internal guidance system of man's mind.
If God created man's internal guidance system (knowledge seeking)then God's demand that man surrender it is a diabolical contradiction.
HERE IS THE BEAUTY of the riddle:
If man were "like God" already knowing good and bad he would not need his Human nature of acquiring outside knowledge in order to survive.
But...
Since man is NOT like God, he must pursue outside knowledge OF good and bad in order to BE LIKE GOD.
And, according to the story of Eden--IN SO DOING he (rather than God) becomes responsible for the imperfect state of the world!
________________________________________________________________________________________
Remember: YOU are the student who must "square the circle" and resolve the tension between the perfect and benevolent Creator and the imperfect world of His own creation!
How do YOU solve the riddle?
1.Blame man for his own human nature.....or
2.Blame God for arbitrarily creating an unecessary tension between pursuit of knowledge and demand for obedience...or
3.Realize that the premise is flawed in the first place because you cannot square the circle!
It is the ARBITRARY decision which most troubles the devout believer in a benevolent God.
The Rabbinical puzzle make YOU the culprit in destroying God's reputation should you settle for #3.
The pious student will assume blame as a human and absolve God and the apologia is complete.
The rational thinker will absolve Adam because what is the point in possessing a reasoning mind if one is compelled to NOT use it?
IN SO DOING, the rational thinker LOSES GOD!
The Tension between rational and logical thought and the compulsion to faithfully believe in a benevolent Creator IS RESOLVED
by turning this philosophical dilemma into an HISTORICALLY TRUE STORY.
And that is exactly what has happened--isn't it? When we came into this world were were told the story
of Adam and Eve is AN HISTORICALLY TRUE event.
If you accept it as historically true: CONGRATULATIONS--YOU'VE SQUARED THE CIRCLE!!
3.Man can never "achieve" life as a goal because the act of living requires the struggle for survival.
Therefore:
4. Man is entirely dependent on intelligent use of acquired KNOWLEDGE in order to SURVIVE. (Lower animals rely on built-in instinct.)
5. Man's exercise of intelligent use of KNOWLEDGE is what separates him in kind from all other creatures.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I URGE YOU NOT TO SKIP OVER what follows.
If you miss the "rules of engagement" you miss the beauty of the riddle.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
LIFE cannot be an achievement of man because it exists in an ongoing continuum of pursuit requiring more and more knowledge to sustain.
Logically then, for man to DO NOTHING is to allow DEATH to occur. For man to exercise KNOWLEDGE is to sustain LIFE.
OBEDIENCE is a choice to "do nothing" but obey. The human mind becomes irrelevent to the process.
ACTIVE becomes PASSIVE.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
HUMAN NATURE for Homo Sapien means KNOWLEDGE is the means of SURVIVAL.
To not pursue the means of survival is to do the impossible: to NOT be homo sapien.
The only alternatives for Human Nature are:
1. Rational Being
or
2.Suicidal Animal
************************************************
So HOW does the RABBI construct a story which pits the TENSIONS against each other?
T he tension between concept and reality, the perfection that exists in the realm of the idea, but seems to disappear in manifestation
In the Garden of Eden the newly created homo sapien must struggle with the TENSION between the CHOICE to pursue KNOWLEDGE rather than TO SURVIVE!
Tricky riddle, eh?
1.Man's nature as homo sapien is to pursue knowledge FOR survival
2.To refuse Knowledge is to refuse the means by which one Survives as a Human.
I n the Garden of Eden the Creator God demands that Adam NOT exercise his human nature of relying on acquired knowledge because---God will break the connection by sentencing Adam to DEATH!
Remember:
A SQUARE circle can neither be constructed, described or conceived for it consists of no more than the juxtaposition of two contrary things which cannot be combined into one nature.
ADAM's dilemma i s a kind of Square Circle because, being a homo sapien, Adam must use knowledge to survive. To refuse to pursue Knowledge is to renounce his own Nature. The only EVIL in pursuing survival is in God's arbitrary decision to punish Adam for the very act of being Human!
S ome ancient rabbi who constructed this story was having a merry laugh with his Square-Circle dichotomy.
It implies an infinite regression of self-contradictions.
1 .Being human you must pursue KNOWLEDGE.
2. If you pursue KNOWLEDGE you will die.
T wisting HUMAN NATURE into a compulsion to OBEY rather than pursue KNOWLEDGE is to destroy the internal guidance system of man's mind.
If God created man's internal guidance system (knowledge seeking)then God's demand that man surrender it is a diabolical contradiction.
HERE IS THE BEAUTY of the riddle:
If man were "like God" already knowing good and bad he would not need his Human nature of acquiring outside knowledge in order to survive.
But...
Since man is NOT like God, he must pursue outside knowledge OF good and bad in order to BE LIKE GOD.
And, according to the story of Eden--IN SO DOING he (rather than God) becomes responsible for the imperfect state of the world!
________________________________________________________________________________________
Remember: YOU are the student who must "square the circle" and resolve the tension between the perfect and benevolent Creator and the imperfect world of His own creation!
How do YOU solve the riddle?
1.Blame man for his own human nature.....or
2.Blame God for arbitrarily creating an unecessary tension between pursuit of knowledge and demand for obedience...or
3.Realize that the premise is flawed in the first place because you cannot square the circle!
It is the ARBITRARY decision which most troubles the devout believer in a benevolent God.
The Rabbinical puzzle make YOU the culprit in destroying God's reputation should you settle for #3.
The pious student will assume blame as a human and absolve God and the apologia is complete.
The rational thinker will absolve Adam because what is the point in possessing a reasoning mind if one is compelled to NOT use it?
IN SO DOING, the rational thinker LOSES GOD!
The Tension between rational and logical thought and the compulsion to faithfully believe in a benevolent Creator IS RESOLVED
by turning this philosophical dilemma into an HISTORICALLY TRUE STORY.
And that is exactly what has happened--isn't it? When we came into this world were were told the story
of Adam and Eve is AN HISTORICALLY TRUE event.
If you accept it as historically true: CONGRATULATIONS--YOU'VE SQUARED THE CIRCLE!!
1 .Being human you must pursue KNOWLEDGE.
2. If you pursue KNOWLEDGE you will die.
T wisting HUMAN NATURE into a compulsion to OBEY rather than pursue KNOWLEDGE is to destroy the internal guidance system of man's mind.
If God created man's internal guidance system (knowledge seeking)then God's demand that man surrender it is a diabolical contradiction.
HERE IS THE BEAUTY of the riddle:
If man were "like God" already knowing good and bad he would not need his Human nature of acquiring outside knowledge in order to survive.
But...
Since man is NOT like God, he must pursue outside knowledge OF good and bad in order to BE LIKE GOD.
And, according to the story of Eden--IN SO DOING he (rather than God) becomes responsible for the imperfect state of the world!
________________________________________________________________________________________
Remember: YOU are the student who must "square the circle" and resolve the tension between the perfect and benevolent Creator and the imperfect world of His own creation!
How do YOU solve the riddle?
1.Blame man for his own human nature.....or
2.Blame God for arbitrarily creating an unecessary tension between pursuit of knowledge and demand for obedience...or
3.Realize that the premise is flawed in the first place because you cannot square the circle!
It is the ARBITRARY decision which most troubles the devout believer in a benevolent God.
The Rabbinical puzzle make YOU the culprit in destroying God's reputation should you settle for #3.
The pious student will assume blame as a human and absolve God and the apologia is complete.
The rational thinker will absolve Adam because what is the point in possessing a reasoning mind if one is compelled to NOT use it?
IN SO DOING, the rational thinker LOSES GOD!
The Tension between rational and logical thought and the compulsion to faithfully believe in a benevolent Creator IS RESOLVED
by turning this philosophical dilemma into an HISTORICALLY TRUE STORY.
And that is exactly what has happened--isn't it? When we came into this world were were told the story
of Adam and Eve is AN HISTORICALLY TRUE event.
If you accept it as historically true: CONGRATULATIONS--YOU'VE SQUARED THE CIRCLE!!
It implies an infinite regression of self-contradictions.
1 .Being human you must pursue KNOWLEDGE.
2. If you pursue KNOWLEDGE you will die.
T wisting HUMAN NATURE into a compulsion to OBEY rather than pursue KNOWLEDGE is to destroy the internal guidance system of man's mind.
If God created man's internal guidance system (knowledge seeking)then God's demand that man surrender it is a diabolical contradiction.
HERE IS THE BEAUTY of the riddle:
If man were "like God" already knowing good and bad he would not need his Human nature of acquiring outside knowledge in order to survive.
But...
Since man is NOT like God, he must pursue outside knowledge OF good and bad in order to BE LIKE GOD.
And, according to the story of Eden--IN SO DOING he (rather than God) becomes responsible for the imperfect state of the world!
________________________________________________________________________________________
Remember: YOU are the student who must "square the circle" and resolve the tension between the perfect and benevolent Creator and the imperfect world of His own creation!
How do YOU solve the riddle?
1.Blame man for his own human nature.....or
2.Blame God for arbitrarily creating an unecessary tension between pursuit of knowledge and demand for obedience...or
3.Realize that the premise is flawed in the first place because you cannot square the circle!
It is the ARBITRARY decision which most troubles the devout believer in a benevolent God.
The Rabbinical puzzle make YOU the culprit in destroying God's reputation should you settle for #3.
The pious student will assume blame as a human and absolve God and the apologia is complete.
The rational thinker will absolve Adam because what is the point in possessing a reasoning mind if one is compelled to NOT use it?
IN SO DOING, the rational thinker LOSES GOD!
The Tension between rational and logical thought and the compulsion to faithfully believe in a benevolent Creator IS RESOLVED
by turning this philosophical dilemma into an HISTORICALLY TRUE STORY.
And that is exactly what has happened--isn't it? When we came into this world were were told the story
of Adam and Eve is AN HISTORICALLY TRUE event.
If you accept it as historically true: CONGRATULATIONS--YOU'VE SQUARED THE CIRCLE!!
1 .Being human you must pursue KNOWLEDGE.
2. If you pursue KNOWLEDGE you will die.
T wisting HUMAN NATURE into a compulsion to OBEY rather than pursue KNOWLEDGE is to destroy the internal guidance system of man's mind.
If God created man's internal guidance system (knowledge seeking)then God's demand that man surrender it is a diabolical contradiction.
HERE IS THE BEAUTY of the riddle:
If man were "like God" already knowing good and bad he would not need his Human nature of acquiring outside knowledge in order to survive.
But...
Since man is NOT like God, he must pursue outside knowledge OF good and bad in order to BE LIKE GOD.
And, according to the story of Eden--IN SO DOING he (rather than God) becomes responsible for the imperfect state of the world!
________________________________________________________________________________________
Remember: YOU are the student who must "square the circle" and resolve the tension between the perfect and benevolent Creator and the imperfect world of His own creation!
How do YOU solve the riddle?
1.Blame man for his own human nature.....or
2.Blame God for arbitrarily creating an unecessary tension between pursuit of knowledge and demand for obedience...or
3.Realize that the premise is flawed in the first place because you cannot square the circle!
It is the ARBITRARY decision which most troubles the devout believer in a benevolent God.
The Rabbinical puzzle make YOU the culprit in destroying God's reputation should you settle for #3.
The pious student will assume blame as a human and absolve God and the apologia is complete.
The rational thinker will absolve Adam because what is the point in possessing a reasoning mind if one is compelled to NOT use it?
IN SO DOING, the rational thinker LOSES GOD!
The Tension between rational and logical thought and the compulsion to faithfully believe in a benevolent Creator IS RESOLVED
by turning this philosophical dilemma into an HISTORICALLY TRUE STORY.
And that is exactly what has happened--isn't it? When we came into this world were were told the story
of Adam and Eve is AN HISTORICALLY TRUE event.
If you accept it as historically true: CONGRATULATIONS--YOU'VE SQUARED THE CIRCLE!!
